


CastleDawn

by cardigan_carm



Category: Fortnite (Video Game), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pro Gamers, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Video Game Mechanics, no beta we die like men, shklance if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-07-06 16:04:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15889389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardigan_carm/pseuds/cardigan_carm
Summary: Vrepit Sa has invited some of the top streaming gamers from AlteaTube to beta test their game CastleDawn a realistic shooter with squad play. Each team must gather all the sacred artifacts while battling other teams, avoiding the storm, and surviving the monstrous Galra. It's a race against time as only one group can supply the Castle of Lions with the artifacts to bring back the dawn.





	1. Falling In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is loosely a crossover between Fortnite and Voltron...

Air rushed, whistling passed his ears and whipping against his body. It was like waking up in a wind tunnel of high pressure, one that stung his eyes and made them water. The wind was harsh, not welcoming like the gentle breezes he’d wake to after a midday nap with the windows open. No this was downright brutal, his blue eyes opened feeling the disorientation and the lack there of sleepy fog.

But nothing got you alert like approaching land as you fell out of the sky. 

Lance screamed bloody murder, throat instantly raw from the intense panic that came ripping out of his throat. He had never felt so scared and frightened in his life. How the heck had this happen? He remembered strapping in for a new game he was going to beta; there were other gamers just like him about to get started. They were invited to play a new game in development. Yet he didn’t get to meet any of them, the developers and the schmoozers kept all of them from interacting and meeting formally.

It was rumored that some of the best gamers and/or gamer personalities from AlteaTube were present. Lance felt lucky enough to be invited as he was an up and coming gamer with his own tiny slice of AlteaTube followers. He would sometimes play with his buddy, Hunk (who was invited to this exclusive event as well). But then again, Lance didn’t get the chance to connect with Hunk before the beta test for this new VR game began.

There had been a lot of rumors and buzz around this upcoming game. Everyone wanted to be part of this, only a few were invited. Lance still wondered how he had landed an invite. He thanked his lucky stars.

Vrepit Sa had been developing this for years and now they were one step closer to the actual release. Oh, he couldn’t wait to get in there…

Now he was dreading his excitement as the earth came zooming towards him as he shrieked. Lance was scared out of his wits!

A solid arm came around him and he was pulled close to a sturdy frame. “I got you!” Was yelled over the whip of the wind. It was calming to know he wasn’t alone, but still nerve-wracking. Waking up skydiving in a super realistic VR game was something he never thought would happen. Did Vrepit Sa hijack his brain, Lance would think so.

Bless this person. This was his new best friend, this daring and brave but hot man! Feeling the grip tighten on his side, he felt their positioning in the sky shifting.

“Trust me,” the man yelled and that made the brunette’s stomach bottom out. His savior dipped them forward, nose diving towards the ground and Lance felt the dread return tenfold. “We need to catch up to the guy below us, he’s part of our squad! When we get closer we’ll need to deploy our gliders.” A streak of red zoomed before them, a display name appeared but Lance’s eyes couldn’t focus as the ground grew closer as the distance shrank.

He swallowed the scream and leaned in as he put an arm around the other as they began to fall closer towards land. They closed in, flanking the other member of their team. 

“Imma let you go, think you can manage?!”

“Yeah, I got this!” 

“We should deploy now.” 

As soon as those words left his teammate’s lips, Lance activated his glider and felt his descent slow as he began to lazily glide downward. He heard the other glider next to him unfold and take shape as he floated. Their third teammate continued to widen the distance between them as he hadn’t deployed yet as he dived, falling faster towards the ground. Lance watch, breath caught in his throat, wondering if his squad member would go splat, the game felt so real.

The speck of red signaling their comrade continued to zip towards the ground. He finally used his glider at the last second as he floated to the abandon house that was below. The roof missing as he sailed languidly towards it. The golden glow of a chest came into view from where Lance could see. 

“That guy doesn’t seem like a team player,” Lance said with an eyebrow raised. 

“Well he’ll have to if he wants to make it through this beta. I’ve never played a game like this one, feels so real.”

Lance easily agreed distractedly, letting his eyes take in his teammate, goodness he was gorgeous and nice. Apparently, he had picked the business skin caricature wearing a button up, slacks, with a tie, and a tactical vest. It would have been comical on anybody else, but not on him as he was tall and muscular. His teammate looked ridiculously strong, Lance remembered seeing him before they geared up to play this game.

Even in passing, he looked every bit the powerful person.

Their other fellow player had the biker skin which consisted of a motorcycle jacket, tight riding pants, helmet with fingerless gloves. He was sleek in build and he wondered what he looked like under the helmet.

Lance had opted for the military look as he tended to play a lot of shooters. He wore camouflage pants with a matching ballcap, a neutral colored shirt, and a heavier bulletproof vest than his counterpart. He wore tinted shades, which he hoped he could remove once they landed, seeing everything in a tint was disorienting especially while skydiving.

They came down landing on the bottom floor of the house rather than where their 'biker' teammate resided upstairs. Lance removed the shades he was wearing and tucked them into a pocket. The gliders they used dematerialized as they began to scan the area of the ransacked house.

“We should try finding some weapons.”

“Yeah,” Lance’s eyes fell on the other again. Now that they were no longer in danger of falling, he took him in once more. It felt slow, but his eyes quickly raked up the form from bottom to top, he took notice of the name above the head and his mouth opened. “You’re –? You’re the Black Paladin?! Oh my gosh.” Well he should have known he was playing with him as much as he was in front of the camera on his AlteaTube channel. How had he not put two and two together? To his credit, he started this hyper realistic game falling out of the sky –, so there was that. “I’m like totally a fan!!”

The Black Paladin gave a shy smile, scratching his head. “Thanks, I’ve seen your work as well Loverboy Sharpshooter. You’re way better at shooters than I am. You’ll be instrumental during this game, I’m happy you’ll have my back.”

“Oohhh, shucks man, thanks! You can call me LS for short or Lance.” He beamed brightly as he held out his hand. 

“Shiro,” he took it, shaking. “Nice meeting you Lance.”

“Hey!” A new voice interrupted the introductions and both looked towards the busted staircase. “You two coming or what?! There’s some chests up here with loot!”

“On our way up,” Shiro called. “C’mon,” he nodded with his head as he began to lead towards their other squad member. 

They quickly ran up the steps even as they creaked and whined under them. Coming up, they rounded the hall and came into a wall-less bedroom. A glowing chest was tuck between the bed and floorboard. Their third teammate stood, helmet on. He reached up taking it off as it vanished from his hands and revealed his face. 

He was just as good looking as Shiro, but on the prettier softer side. His face was stuck in a grumpy frown which made him appear pouty. Lance’s blue eyes landed on his display name and he was shocked. Before him was Keith, he wondered if this was THE Keith that had a crazy following on AlteaTube.

If it was, then they had a pretty strong team already. Gamer Keith never appeared on his channel, never spoke or commented, but he played crazy good and would only air his gameplay of whatever video game he was crushing. Because he was so good, people didn’t mind that he didn’t have any sort of interaction as just watching what he did was insanely great.

Lance had seen enough, but he was always curious about the ultra-private and mysterious Keith.

“Are you like THE Keith? The one with the popular gaming channel?”

“I guess, dunno and don’t care.” Keith groused as he turned away and began to reach towards the chest, hand hovering as it opened with a mechanical whizzing while it unlocked. 

The brunette frowned in response, he detested jerks.

“I only need a bit of loot and then I’ll be on my way.” Keith said as he picked up the dual pistols and one of the liquid shields. Popping the top and chugging the contents as it created a shimmering glow about him for a split second. “You two can have the rest.”

“We’re a squad though,” Lance whined.

“I do better on my own –. Teamwork isn’t my thing.”

“Keith,” Shiro interjected patiently. “We’re a squad now, if we wanna beat this game then we’ll need to work together. Watch each other’s backs.” 

“I play solo, always have. I’m outta here,” he began to trudge away, bumping Shiro in his wake. “There’s another chest in the next room over. I haven’t opened it.” He offered as he walked out of the broken doorway. 

It was quiet for a moment before Lance huffed. “Can you believe that guy, he straight up abandoned us.”

“It’s okay Lance, we can’t force him to team up with us if he doesn’t want to. That’s not how cohesion works.” Shiro’s eyes smiled despite the situation as he looked to his partner. The easement only lasted for a second before his storm colored eyes drifted down and assessed the left-over supplies. “Do you have any preferences on what provisions you want?”

“Um,” Lance hummed softly in thought as he looked at what was before them. “I’ll take this SMG and the scoped assault rifle. We can split the shield potion. One for each of us,” he offered as he picked up his weapons and they vanished from his hands the moment he took hold. “Cool subspace pockets,” he murmured before picking up the two liquid shields. Both men drank the liquid as it enveloped them in a shimmering light.

Shiro took up the pump shotgun before smiling. “On to the next?’ He offered as Lance mirrored his expression, lips upturned happily. 

“Yeah.”

~ * ~ * ~

Keith ran across the terrain of the rolling knolls of Hippy Hillside from what his map displayed. He was curious though seeing the countdown timer in the corner of his view. It was different than the storm clock that was at the top right of his sight. Oh well, whatever it was didn’t seem alarming since no warnings flashed. The countdown had started once he was a good distance away from his so-called team.

His legs pumped as he ran, he needed to gather up the illustrious pieces from each named area on the map and deliver them to the Castle of Lions. Easier said than done since there were over twenty locations on the map and several teams hunting for the pieces as well. Luckily, Keith didn’t have to fight any rival teams for any pieces they came across as the game generated the pieces repeatedly, but if the team wanted to be petty and steal from others it was allowable.

Being alone meant he could slip by without much issue. He could go, in and out, getting everything he needed without notice. 

A beep sounded in his ears and his eyes drew to the blinking countdown and he hummed thoughtfully. His run slowed a bit as he regarded the dwindling numbers. He wondered what was going on, as the time struck **0:00** , the lights began to flare around him. Keith’s eyes widen, pausing in his stride, watching while his hand illuminated with dancing particles of light along with the rest of his body.

“What the fu –,” he didn’t get to finish as he felt his body jettison from where he stood as he began to zoom across the map before winking out of existence.

~ * ~ * ~

Lance growled as he stood behind a brick wall as he and Shiro were under fire from a two-man squad. They had ambushed them as they had been trying to leave the house they had landed in. “Damnit,” he raised the sub-machine gun and sprayed at the rival team as they ducked behind their cover. “I can’t get them,” he cried in annoyance.

Shiro cocked the shotgun he used and took fire as one of the enemies showed their face for the briefest of seconds before ducking quickly. Shiro was trying to think of something, maybe he could draw their fire and Lance could flank them? No, that was dangerous.

Think Shiro, think. He thought as he tried to come up with a swift solution. Nothing was coming up, he was thankful he had spared both of them from taking any damage as the two gunmen took potshots at them. They were lucky he saw movement from the corner of his eyes.

Yet they were stuck. 

“Shiro!” Lance called as they were both behind the same brick wall. “I’m going to cause a diversion. Think you can take them down?”

“Don’t do it –, if I’m not fast enough you could get eliminated from the game.”

“You worry too much, you got this.” The sniper darted from behind their cover as Shiro cursed and readied the pump shotgun he had, loading it quickly with fresh shells.

Shiro whipped around as Lance danced out in the open, exposing himself. A flash of light drew their attention as the opposing squad took aim at Lance. 

From that flash a body appeared zooming in as Shiro and Lance began to emit a light, blinking as if calling the newcomer. Keith flew at them as he raised the dual pistols he wielded and took aim firing at the twosome. Multiple shots struck the enemy as they were unaware of his flying entrance. 

As he laid into them with his rain of bullets, Keith came flying at his nearest teammate, Lance. Keith’s feet landed against the grass and dirt patches as he was propelled forward, skidding as he braced for impact. Lance easily caught him as he slowed as he held both pistols in hands. “Whoa! Whoa –, you sure do know how to make an entrance.” The brunette wheezed sarcastically.

“Not intentionally,” Keith growled as he shoved himself away. He quickly stood upright.

Shiro had finished offed their opponents as he came trotting up with a smile. “Well I’m just thankful you showed up when you did. We were pinned down.”

Keith frowned looking away bashfully as he was lost on what to say. He huffed and crossed his arms. “Whatever –, it’s nothing.” The eldest smiled nonetheless and eventually Lance did the same. Keith couldn’t wrap his mind around it, chalking it up to them being idiots. He moved, stepping away. “See you,” he waved as he began to retreat from his squad.

Both watched as their third member left their party again.

All three would learn that they’d be joined at the hip sooner rather than later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :*･ﾟ☆.｡.:*･ﾟ￡(｡･”･)o[†…Thanks for reading…†]o(･”･｡)β｡.:*･ﾟ☆.｡.:*  
> [cardigan carm's tumblr](https://cardigan-carm.tumblr.com/)


	2. First Artifact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From one situation to another...

Keith was annoyed, annoyed at this game and the stupid rule they failed to mention. Apparently, you couldn’t stray from your squad if you were part of one. You could only go so far away from your group. Damn them, damn all the developers, they could go to hell for all he cared. He was the worst person to be joined up with anybody. Randomly forcing someone to group up with other players he didn’t know was plain stupid. They would only slow him down in the end.

They said some squads could be a one-man team. But why, oh why did he have to be strong-armed into a squadron? Keith had always been a one man show, a solo act. This was madness and he couldn’t see the logic behind it. This would be the first and last time he would be lured to beta a game by some big developing company. 

He’d never do something like this again.

Keith knew he should stick to playing games that were gifted to him by the gaming industry, so he could show them on his AlteaTube channel.

What were they thinking? Fucking Vrepit Sa!

Every time he tried to put distance between himself from Lance and Shiro, the game would drag him back in flaring red lights and flashes. He would fly from far distances back to his group and nearly collide with one of them. He almost knocked Shiro down twice.

After the third time he knew it was futile to get away. 

To make it through he’d have to work with them, unfortunately. If his team got downed while playing he could then be free to play how he wanted. The thought crossed, but he felt guilty for it. It wasn’t right, even if it was just a game. Leaving someone to be eliminated didn’t feel right even though it would grant him his freedom.

He sighed, as they were heading towards Hippy Hillside, the place he had tried to get to several times already. _Damn this game_ , Keith thought loathingly. 

The ‘biker’ ran with dual pistols in hand as Lance held his SMG and Shiro ran with his pump shotgun. The ‘business man’ led the charge as the other two flanked each side of him. 

“Think we’ll find the artifact?” Lance asked as he filled the silence. 

“We haveta, there’s no point asking the question as that’s the point of the whole game.” Keith frowned as he rolled his eyes.

The brunette glared at his teammate. “Okay, then since you’re soooo smart –. How do we identify the artifacts?”

“Guys,” Shiro interjected firmly. “The developers said we’d know it when we see it. It’s distinctly different from most interactive items.”

Lance seemed to brighten at that and smiled. “Do you think it’ll glow similar like the treasure chest?”

Shiro looked back at both, expression turning cute as his eyes grew round as he shrugged. “Possibly, dunno.” He breathed bemusedly with a smile. “I guess we’ll know it when we see it.” 

“It should look like something that doesn’t belong and it should float.” Keith supplied. “Didn’t you listen to what the developers said about the game?”

Hearing the snark in Keith’s voice was enough to make Lance frown. He didn’t feel like confessing that he had indeed didn’t listen to what the devs had said. They had droned on and on. Lance had tuned out and so he may have missed somethings. “Yeah, I heard what they said. I listened.”

“Uh huh,” Keith delivered flatly. “I’m so sure, if you had heard then you wouldn’t be asking so many questions.”

“Whatever Keith! If that’s your real name.”

Before the ‘biker’ could retort Shiro interjected. “Guys! Enough!” The two went silent as they looked to him as he gave them both enduring looks. “We’ve made it to Hippy Hillside.” The ‘business man’ pointed as he alleviated the oncoming bickering.

Before them were rolling hillsides with various tents and RVs and small tiny houses. There were numerous places to search and the sun would be dropping fast. They would need to find the artifact soon and then find shelter or else they’d have to face the Galra which were non-playable enemies that came out at night. Shiro knew they weren’t ready to face that sort of enemy as they had barely survived their first encounter with a rival team.

The fact that Keith and Lance were both at each other’s throats was another thing to consider.

Once they worked as a team then they would have little to worry about, but until then –. Shiro’s thoughts paused as Keith began to move. Running down the hill going towards the various cluster of campsites that littered the hilltops. He stifled a sigh and looked to the brunette beside him. “C’mon,” he began to race down as he followed the other’s lead. “We should split up and search, but don’t stray too far.”

“Alright Shiro,” Lance began to break off as he veered towards a group of RVs. 

Shiro ran going passed where Keith was looking through the tents that were huddled together. He went to another small hill and began to pull out his large harvesting tool and began to bust the tiny houses. The gamer collected the wood from the wall as it began to deteriorate before him as it added to his building material inventory. They would need the supply when the nighttime cycle came so they could barricade themselves into whatever shelter they found. 

CastleDawn appeared to be in perpetual evening and the night only lasted for an hour in game-time, which was about five minutes give or take in real-time. 

The days in this game were quick.

Shiro gathered the wood before searching each small house. Some of the housing had extra weapons, ammo, and/or shield-curative items. He grabbed what he thought would be good for him as he rummaged about but making sure to leave room in his limited storage of inventory.

“Guys any luck?” He asked as he found that they could communicate to each other when not in the same spaces. Apparently, they were equipped with some sort of communication device that was short range, but powerful.

“Nope,” Lance whined and Shiro could imagine the ‘soldier’ pouting.

“Nothing yet, I’m heading to another bunch of tents.” Keith delivered which was surprising as Shiro wasn’t expecting a response.

“Same here, I’ll radio if I find anything.” Shiro ended the chat as he began to go to another shack like home, breaking the boarding as he came in. Looking about he found it empty before moving onto the next, harvesting tool ready, it resembled a handheld gardening hoe. It was hilarious, swinging it and cultivating wood. A smile graced his face as this game was proving fun already.

Swinging several times, the wood splintered and broke before disappearing and going towards his stash. Shiro entered the space, his eyes searching as he took in the abandon home with sleeping bags and other debris littering the floor. He paused as something caught his eye, it glowed, outlined in white rather than the gold that the treasure chest emitted. The item floated, hovering some odd feet from the flooring.

Kneeling down, he picked up the stuff animal and examined it. A notification popped up in the corner of his view.

**FOUND KOSMO THE SPACE WOLF 1/20 ARTIFACTS FOUND!!**

It appeared to be a stuffed animal, but it was the artifact they were looking for. A bit of luck on their side.

“Guys, I found what we were looking for –.” Lance cheered over their comms and a smile tugged at Shiro’s lips. “We should try to find some shelter, it’ll be ‘nighttime’ soon and the Galra will be coming out.”

“Um, yeah, I hate to break it to you but a hoard of Galra are coming at us already. It looks to be the Sentries. They’ll be on top of us in a moment. What’s the plan?” Keith supplied from where ever he was at within Hippy Hillside. 

“Oh, shit fo’ real?” Lance yipped. “Ugh, should I start sniping?”

“No, that will set them off, they’ll come running. We shouldn’t engage unless we have to.” Shiro began to leave the tiny house he was in as he saw that the sun was sinking fast behind the horizon. “Keith, Lance converge on my spot and be ready to move. We gotta find a place to lay low. I’ll check the map in the meantime.” His view shifted as he began to see a virtual map hover before him as he tried to find the closest shelter.

Gun fire rang out before he could locate a place for them to take refuge.

“What happened?!” Lance hollered.

“I got engaged,” Keith growled. “You two go ahead and I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”

“We don’t leave our teammates behind, Keith. Lance will rendezvous with you and support you until I get there. We’ll get through this.” Shiro began to switch from his harvesting tool to his weapons. Picking his newest one he found while searching the houses he held the grenade launcher. He didn’t have many rounds, checking he only found he had three shots. 

Shiro hoped their luck would hold out, he had to make these shots count. Or else it would be game over before they got started.

In the distance he heard dual firing as no doubt Lance was now with Keith.

The ‘business man’ ran, grenade launcher at the ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, well Kudos are awesome, bookmarking is cool  
> and leaving a comments is appreciated!  
> (Carm is thirsty for those comments though!)  
> :*･ﾟ☆.｡.:*･ﾟ￡(｡･”･)o[†…Thanks for reading…†]o(･”･｡)β｡.:*･ﾟ☆.｡.:*  
> [cardigan carm's tumblr](https://cardigan-carm.tumblr.com/)


	3. A Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First artifact found, but then some Galra show up.  
> They ain't ready...

Shiro’s first shot with his grenade launcher was not the best of shots, but they helped slow down the horde of sentries as they trotted after them. Shiro and his two comrades jogged backwards, a sizeable space between them and the enemies they faced. There were a gaggle of Galra sentries, more than they could take on. He quickly was trying to think of a plan to slow them down, if he could make his shot count then they could slip away.

The sun was sinking fast behind the rolling hills and they needed to find shelter hastily as stronger enemies would be out soon, the more monstrous sort. Again, Shiro knew they were not ready to face such a threat so early in the game. 

“Anybody have a plan?” Keith asked as they moved, guns held poised in both hands, ready to fire at a moments notice. 

Shiro’s eyes shifted between the three of them before glancing at the mob. It was like a bolt of lightening as a fast plan just popped into Shiro’s head, it was hasty, but it was worth it. Trying was better than giving up. “Keith, do you have a rapid-fire weapon at all?”

“Um,” he hummed as he checked his inventory quickly. “I do! I grabbed it while searching for the artifact. I don’t have a lot of ammo though,” he huffed as a frown made home on his face. Keith shifted from his dual pistols to the burst rifle

“It’s alright Keith,” Shiro assured as he smiled. “Lance, do you still have that SMG?” 

“Yep!” The sniper swiftly shifted from the sniper rifle to the submachine gun. Lance held it ready, just as Keith did. “Now what?”

“You two, will mow down the first and second row of the sentries. Then I’ll fire a grenade at them and then we can make a run for it and put some distance between us and them. We’ll then find shelter.” Looking from one to the other, he noticed that a determined gleam came to Keith’s eyes while Lance nodded an affirmation, all three agreed upon the plan. “Okay you guys start.”

With those words uttered, Keith and Lance opened fire as they held their fingers on the trigger as they let their guns rattle off, unloading on the sentries. The metallic bodies sounded like nails in a tin bucket, rattling as the score of numbers registered above their head with each bullet hitting their bodies. As their hit meters plummeted, they began to drop like flies.

Shiro took the opportunity to run a head of his teammates as he wanted to get distance, he hoped he judged this right. Turning he was several paces before both, he ran backwards as he jumped, squeezing down as he launched the grenade with his shot. He watched the projectile soar through the air before bouncing twice and then rolling in the thick of enemies. A second or two ticked by before the grenade went off.

**BOOOM!!!**

It decimated like he’d hoped for and he felt relief flood as a half-smile pulled one corner of his lips. “Let’s go,” he called with a wave.

He heard two sets of footsteps follow close behind as they began to leave Hippy Hillside in a mad dash.  
~ * ~ * ~

After fleeing from the NPC mobs their squad quickly took refuge in a shack that was between Hippy Hillside and Garbage Grove. Shiro had enough forethought to build around the small structure to give them further protection from other players and the Galra. In the distance they could hear the beginning wail of the sirens warning of the oncoming storm. All three checked their maps and were relieved to know that they were in the safe zone. 

“So far, it’s been an eventful start,” Lance broke the silence as the fire Keith had started crackled between the three of them. Keith simply cocked an eyebrow and Lance took it as initiative to keep chatting. “I mean skydiving in, running across an enemy team, and then finding our first artifact and dealing with the sentries.”

Keith gave a silent nod as his eyes stayed fixed to the flickering flame. 

“Well,” Shiro broken in with a charming smile. “For being randomly put together we work well with one another.”

“We kinda haveta,” Keith finally spoke. “If we wanna win this thing.”

“True,” Shiro intoned quietly. “It’s for a good cause,” he murmured. “The fact we’ll have money going to charities of our choosing and all, but we’ll have fun along the way.” The ‘business man’ returned to being jovial. “Along with establishing new friendships,” Shiro let the sentence hang as he looked at Keith, knowing he was a loner-type.

Lance couldn’t help but to smiled as he looked between his comrades. He could see the beginnings of a smile on Keith’s face, but then he noted the expression disappear as quickly as it had arrived. “So, where should we go next once nighttime is over? We could go to Peaceful Park or Garbage Grove? What do you guys think?” Keith offered which was an improvement as he wanted to include his fellow teammates.

Lance seemed to beam, a large toothy smile on his face. “How about we go towards Peaceful Park, we shouldn’t have too much trouble there with a name like that.”

“That’s your deciding factor, the name? Why’d I even ask,” Keith groused with an eyeroll. The ‘biker’ frowned, glaring at the ‘soldier’. 

“What the fu–, “Lance began only for Shiro to interrupt the brewing fight.

“Guys! C’mon, enough.” Shiro sighed tiredly. “Listen, I think we should stick to the outlying edge of the island and head north towards Garbage Grove. Once we get to the grove and find the second artifact, we head southeast, but not entirely doubling back. We’ll go to Peaceful Park and then Snooty Sands. How does that sound?” He asked with an expectant gaze. Both gamers thought it over, but quickly nodded in acceptance of the plan.

“It’s something,” Keith murmured with a shrug.

“It sounds solid, I’m down.” Lance smiled as he put his hand out in front of him wanting the others to join in his cheer.

Shiro laughed and gave a shrug as he placed his hand on top of Lance’s, while Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes. He reluctantly added his hand on top of Shiro’s. 

“Go team!!” Lance cheered as all three tossed their hands up thought Keith was rather lackluster with his reaction.

~ * ~ * ~

Coming out of the VR game was a little disorienting as Keith pulled the gear off. So far, they had found one artifact and had barely made enough progress in his book. At least they had come up with a strategy, maybe it wouldn’t be all bad. A lanky form came zooming at him with another body trailing clumsily behind as if being drug. It was Lance and Shiro, he frowned already as Lance’s excitement was rather annoying.

“Keith,” the brunette greeted as he came to a halt with Shiro looming behind him. “Do you wanna get some dinner together?”

‘No’ hovered on the tip of his tongue, but he hesitated, and it was troubling to feel such a feeling bubble up. Normally, Keith kept to himself and thrived being under the radar. Even with his AlteaTube channel he didn’t connect with his fans, simply because it was easier. Everything was easier alone than having other’s in his life. It was something he learned coming up as a kid, but just playing several hours with Lance and Shiro had turned his norm on its head. Why? He wanted to analyze it now, but it would have to be shelved for a later time. They wanted an answer right then, he could see the uncertainty in Shiro’s eyes and the disappointment forming in Lance’s as the seconds lengthened.

Keith sighed and looked away, not wanting any heat coming to his face from embarrassment. “Sure.”

“Rea–,” the word was incomplete as Shiro’s hand came over Lance’s lips. 

“C’mon, let’s go,” Shiro nodded with his head over his shoulder as he released Lance. Keith appreciated Shiro as they began to leave only for Lance to throw his arms over both their shoulders.

“Where should we eat?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!  
> [cardigan carm's tumblr](https://cardigan-carm.tumblr.com/)


End file.
